Working within the traditions of Bion, Turquet, Foulkes and Pines, and drawing on concepts and data from psychoanalysis, group analysis and sociology, this volume develops Earl Hopper’s new theory of the fourth basic assumption in the unconscious life of groups and group-like social systems. Located within a social, cultural and political transgenerational context, Incohesion: Aggregation/Massification or (ba) I:A/M (an acronym for ‘I AM’ – an assertion of personal identity when identity is under threat) is based on the fear of annihilation stemming from traumatic experience. With full respect for the constraints of the social unconscious, Earl Hopper applies his theory of Incohesion to the treatment of ‘difficult’ patients in group analysis. The personification of aggregation and massification – patients with crustacean, contact-shunning and amoeboid, merger-hungry characteristics respectively – is illustrated with detailed clinical vignettes from heterogeneous groups, including drug addicts, victims of incest and sexual abuse, and child survivors of the Shoah. Concluding with critical commentaries by senior British and American group analysts and psychoanalysts, this volume will make essential reading for both analysts and their students.
Working within the traditions of Bion, Turquet, Foulkes and Pines, and drawing on concepts and data from psychoanalysis, group analysis and sociology, this volume develops Earl Hopper’s new theory of the fourth basic assumption in the unconscious life of groups and group-like social systems. Located within a social, cultural and political transgenerational context, Incohesion: Aggregation/Massification or (ba) I:A/M (an acronym for ‘I AM’ – an assertion of personal identity when identity is under threat) is based on the fear of annihilation stemming from traumatic experience. With full respect for the constraints of the social unconscious, Earl Hopper applies his theory of Incohesion to the treatment of ‘difficult’ patients in group analysis. The personification of aggregation and massification – patients with crustacean, contact-shunning and amoeboid, merger-hungry characteristics respectively – is illustrated with detailed clinical vignettes from heterogeneous groups, including drug addicts, victims of incest and sexual abuse, and child survivors of the Shoah. Concluding with critical commentaries by senior British and American group analysts and psychoanalysts, this volume will make essential reading for both analysts and their students. from the publisher's website |
